Cars have no tone. I mean yeah you have the mean looking cars, and then the nice mousy ones and their horns that sound like it took a lot of effort to let out and require a deep breath soon afterwards, but these do not go along with the message that the driver is trying to deliver.
Honk! is supposed to express whether a driver is angry because you cut her off, Honk! also has to tell someone that they are getting into your lane, and honk! is all your car is allowed to say when you want to kindly remind the driver in front of you that the light has turned green. What comes out depends on your car. I used to drive around a large vehicle, so every sound that came out of that thing sounded like a threat, a bit like “GET OUT OF THE WAY!” even when I was trying to be nice to an old lady who didn’t know that the turn light was green.
I was waiting for the light behind a car at an intersection today. It turned green, and the car wouldn’t move. I wanted to honk to let him know that he should go, but then I remembered how awkward it is when I get honked at so I decided not to do it. I was about to honk, since he was taking too long but then the person behind me honked instead. It worked. It sounded much nicer than my honk! would’ve sounded. Woo hoo! One time, a car honked at me at a light and I went to turn into a pharmacy. The car was right behind me, and turned into the same parking lot. That was pretty awkward, so I figured I’d have a little fun with it; I decided to wait for him to park and then take the spot right next to his (it was pretty late at night and the lot was pretty much empty). Then I added a little eye contact.
Now THAT’S my type of awkward!
LOL. So funny/awkward/true.
Haha!
Cat, thanks for reading! 🙂
Edwin
Did you give him the stink eye?
I was going to, then I noticed how uncomfortable he felt with the whole situation. It was pretty funny though!
Thanks for stopping by!
Edwin
Depends also on the make of car. As you mention HONKs are supposed to be angry. Unfortunately, I’ve owned cars before with little, pathetic honks. Honks that don’t deliver the bombast you might need. ‘Cuz you don’t want to honk at someone and then have everyone look at YOU all weird, like, “Really? That’s the best you got?”
At least you didn’t add an annoyed little wave to your eye contact. That one often tempts me.
I know EXACTLY what you mean about the little wave!
Being honked at while being outside of a car is just as equally awkward. I run Cross Country and train almost everyday. I get honked at frequently. It’s so weird because you never know if they’re are cheering you on or trying to scare the hell out of you. Oh, and as a suggestion for awkwardness, talking to people at red lights is awkward…
Awesome blog. Subscribed!
Hi! Thank you!
Maybe that’s how they try to hit on you, hahaha. I think there’s a post about that somewhere.. Anyway, you’re right. Talking to people at a red light can be pretty awkward!! Thanks for the idea!
Edwin